Just got off the phone with Jonathan Vilma. Here were some of the highlights from the conversation:

- He said today's decision backs up what he's been saying all along, that he was happy in New Orleans, and all things being equal, this is where he wanted to play this year. "Because it's free agency, naturally I'm going to see what other teams are interested," Vilma said. "But it wasn't too difficult. We both agreed pretty easily on the numbers we thought were fair and both thought were reasonable. We got it done quickly, got it done smoothly, and now we can focus on football."

- He mentioned Tampa Bay as a team that was "very interested" in him, but he suggested the Bucs were among other backup options "if, for whatever reason, something had not gone the way I expected."

- Vilma said he stayed involved in the negotiations throughout the night and early morning hours from his home in Miami. He said he agreed to the basic parameters of the deal around 6:30 a.m., then let agent Mitch Frankel, Saints General Manager Mickey Loomis and the rest of the front office work out the details.

- He said he hasn't met new defensive coordinator Gregg Williams yet but plans to meet with him on Monday. He said Williams was "definitely a plus," in his decision to stay in New Orleans, "from everything that I've heard about him, his track record, all the teams he's been associated with. I'm excited to finally have a chance to play under him."

- Vilma also spoke about the news from earlier this week that Miami-Dade authorities had decided to drop the criminal charges of resisting arrest and obstruction of justice against him, stemming from a January traffic stop. "That was the biggest relief of anything that's happened this offseason because it was just a very crazy situation. I'll just leave it at that," said Vilma, who all along maintained that the charges were unjust. "I was just glad the Saints didn't pass judgment, they didn't believe a word of what they said happened. And I was just excited the fans didn't pass judgment either before there was a decision."